Essential Reading

Our web hosts were threatened with legal action after lawyers representing none other than Dov Zakheim himself claimed this article was “defamatory.” Due to an oversight the article was not fully removed so read it before Zakheim gets us shut down

Could it be that certain powers have a vested interest in keeping our real history under wraps? Because a great deal has been unearthed which is completely at odds with conventional notions regarding the origins of what we know today as America

Housed in a warehouse in Ica, Peru, is a collection of ancient stone tablets which carry pictures portraying advanced medical practice. They open a Pandora’s box of questions and challenge everything we have been taught about our past

A human story from the hellhole Zimbabwe has become – with the West’s acquiescence of course. For although Western leaders may criticise him publicly, they opened the way for Mugabe’s ascent to power, just as they did with Saddam

More than being an insider’s confirmation of the power of the pro-Israel lobby over Congress, the former US Senator’s letter also calls into question Noam Chomsky’s increasingly suspect looking motives

We are not being told everything about the London terror attacks and, just like 9/11, contradictions and anomalies are appearing in the official account. We look back and try to fathom what really happened?

Chelsea J. Carter – CNN May 20, 2012

Iran’s finance minister believes oil prices could rise as high as $160 a barrel thanks to sanctions over its nuclear program, a prediction that comes just as the chief of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency headed to Tehran on Sunday for high-level talks.

“We must pay close attention when we speak of oil revenues and sanctions against oil sales, who are the winners and the losers of such sanctions?” Shamseddin Hosseini told CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS” in an interview that airs Sunday.

“Indeed, it is difficult. But not just for Iran. And we can all rest assured that there will be a considerable increase in international oil market prices. Now, is this the best approach?”

The comments came as the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a carefully worded statement that its director-general, Yukiya Amano, was headed to Iran for talks on what it described only as “issues of mutual interest with high Iranian officials.”

The trip raises speculation that Iran may be willing to grant IAEA inspectors access to sites to determine whether it is developing nuclear weapons.

The talks come at a critical time for Iran, whose economy has been crippled by sanctions imposed by the United Nations, the United States and the European Union.

Eighty percent of Iran’s foreign revenues are derived from oil exports, and an embargo by the EU set to go into effect in July will further devastate its economy.

But Hosseini said the embargo would also likely hurt the EU, which is grappling with its own weakened economy.

Oil prices as a result of the sanctions, he said, “will go considerably higher than $100 per barrel.”

Even the International Monetary Fund “says as a result of these sanctions, oil prices will perhaps reach and hover around $160 per barrel,” he said.

Hosseini gave little indication to Zakaria that Iran would be willing to abandon its nuclear program, which Tehran has consistently maintained is solely for the development of alternative energy.

“There are conversations and dialogues taking place currently, but there cannot be a hegemony and a double-standard in the treatment of member countries such as Iran,” he said.

“If these principles can be understood and applied with mutual respect, I think we will be in a much better place. If we don’t, we will witness a increase in international oil markets.”

The Iranians met with the IAEA for the first time in three months in Vienna, Austria, last week and are expected to meet again Monday.

Later thisweek in Baghdad, Iran is set to continue talks over its nuclear program with world powers who make up the group known as P5+1: the United States, France, Russia, China, Britain and Germany.

Tensions over the country’s nuclear program have roiled the Middle East, with Iran threatening earlier this year to close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil shipping lane, if sanctions were imposed on its exports of crude oil.

Meanwhile, Israel has said it may attack Iran to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.

During the height of tensions, oil prices soared to $110 a barrel. The price per barrel of crude oil finished last week at $92.50 per barrel.

In March, the IAEA noted what it called a sharp and troubling increase in Iran’s uranium enrichment capabilities.

The United States and its allies suspect that Iran is evading international inspections and is developing nuclear weapons. As punishment, Western nations have slapped crippling sanctions on Iran.

Leaders of the so-called Group of Eight — United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Russia — called on Iran on Saturday to comply with the requirements of the U.N.’s watchdog agency to open its doors to nuclear inspectors.

In a declaration, the G8 leaders said they welcomed the resumption of talks.

The leaders called on Iran to engage “in detailed discussion about near-term, concrete steps that can, through a step-by-step approach based on reciprocity, lead towards a comprehensive negotiated solution which restores international confidence that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively peaceful,” according to the declaration.

The G8 leaders also urged Iran to comply with international obligations to uphold human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of religion.